Access your free Office 365 account

Access to your free Office 365 account is provided as a part of the campus Microsoft license. As such, these accounts are not “personal accounts” and access to Office 365, OneDrive and the data contained therein are linked to your UIndy account. 

The same Office 365 products will be available whether you are using them on a University-owned device or personal device. Available products align with other campus software and support capabilities.

UIndy employees will lose access to their free UIndy Office 365 account on their last day worked. 

Students will lose access to their free UIndy Office 365 one year after their last date of enrollment.

Set up your free Office 365 account

Log in to Office 365
  1. Navigate to office.com.
  2. Click on the Sign in button.
Depicts steps 1 and 2
  1. Enter your full UIndy email address.
  2. Click the Next button.
Depicts steps 3 and 4
  1. Enter your UIndy account password.
  2. Click the Sign in button.
Depicts steps 5-6

UIndyIT has enabled Duo multi-factor authentication on Microsoft Office 365. When you are prompted to log into Microsoft products (e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams) you will be prompted to Login with Duo after entering your email address and password.

Depicts Duo prompt

To reduce the number of times you are asked to authenticate, you can:

  1. Check the box next to Don't show this again and
  2. Click the Yes button.
Depicts steps 7-8

You will then be directed to your Office 365 home page, from here you can select which product(s) you would like to work with.

Depicts Office 365 account page

Use your free Office 365 account

Web-based version of Office 365

When accessing Office 365 products in a browser, all files will be auto-saved to OneDrive. If you would prefer to have them stored elsewhere, you will need to download them. Please see download content out of OneDrive [Link to Office 365 OneDrive Storage Tech Guide].

Log in to Office 365
  1. Navigate to office.com.
  2. Click on the Sign in button.
Depicts steps 1 and 2
  1. Enter your full UIndy email address.
  2. Click the Next button.
Depicts steps 3 and 4
  1. Enter your UIndy account password.
  2. Click the Sign in button.
Depicts steps 5 and 6

You may receive a stay signed in message. If so:

  1. Click on the box next to Don't show this again.
  2. Click on the Yes button.
Depicts steps 7 and 8

You will then be directed to your Office 365 home page, from here you can select which product(s) you would like to work with.

Depicts Office 365 account page

For more details on Office 365 file storage, please see [link to Office 365 Storage tech guide]

Download and install Office 365 products on a PC or Mac

You may download and install Office 365 products on your personal PC or Mac computer. Please see Microsoft's documentation on how to sign in and download your free Office 365 products. When accessing Office 365 products installed on your computer you can choose where files will be saved; we recommend Google Drive.

Due to licensing limitations, part-time faculty are not assigned desktop-based licenses but do have access to Office 365 products online. Requests for access to the downloadable products can be submitted via ticket at techhelp.uindy.edu or via email at [email protected]. Access for one academic year is provided on a case-by-case basis.  

Do not install Office 365 products on your UIndy-owned device. University-licensed Microsoft Office is already installed for your use. 

Install Office

After you have logged into your Office 365 account. On your homepage:

  1. Click on the Install Office button.
Depicts step 1
  1. A drop-down option will appear, select Office 365 apps.
Depicts step 2
  1. An .exe file will begin to download on your computer. Follow the instructions shown on your screen.
  2. You can click on the Need help installing? link for more directions.
  3. Click on the Close button when you are finished.
Depicts steps 3, 4, and 5
Log into Office 365 in a UIndy computer lab

Once you've logged into a computer lab machine and open a Microsoft app, such as Microsoft Word or Excel, you will be prompted to sign in again.

  1. Click on the blue Sign in button.
Depicts step 1
  1. Enter your full UIndy email address.
  2. Click the Next button.
Depicts steps 2 and 3
  1. Enter your UIndy password.
  2. Click the Sign in button.
Depicts steps 4 and 5
If you have not not used Office 365 with your UIndy email address before

A window asking for more information will appear:

  1. Click the Next button.
Depicts steps 3

A window requesting you to provide a backup method of contact in case you forget your password will appear. You can pick which backup method works best for you, but we recommend clicking the cancel link.

Your Office 365 account is linked to your UIndy account, if you forget your password, please see our reset your UIndy account password Tech Guide. 

Depicts backup method options

A window asking you to remain signed in to all of your apps will appear. 

  1. Make sure the box is unchecked next to Allow my organization to manage my device.
  2. Click on No, sign in to this app only.
Depicts steps 6 and 7

If the privacy option window appears,  

  1. Click the Close button.
Depicts step 8

You can now open a new blank document.

Files can be saved at the location of your choosing, however anything saved directly to a lab computer will be deleted after you log off the machine. We recommend saving files to your Google Drive.

UIndyIT support for Office 365 apps is limited; please refer to Microsoft Office Support for help with using apps: https://support.microsoft.com/.

For more details on Office 365 file storage, please see Office 365 OneDrive storage.